"Government Shutdown! This is not what the Founding Fathers had in mind!"

“The people must remain ever vigilant against tyrants masquerading as public servants.” – George Washington

“Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on offices, a rottenness begins in his conduct.” – Thomas Jefferson

“The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted.” – James Madison

Our founding fathers sure had it right. Even as they hunkered down together vigilantly knocking out the details of what would become our Constitution, they knew that no matter how diligently they worked on the document, regardless of the checks and balances and other built in safeguards limiting power in each branch of government, corruption remained a real threat. They believed that those given power in government would eventually be corrupted by it. It seems that the framers of our Constitution were very much in tune with human nature.

Of course our Founding Fathers had no way of knowing how big or out of control our government would become. They proposed the idea of small government. The Congress they envisioned was to be made up of common citizens called upon to serve their country who would earn a modest salary, serve a short term then return to their regular lives where they would live by the laws they helped to pass. The Founding Fathers believed that the members of Congress should be rotated regularly through frequent elections, if a representative’s term was short and he knew that he would soon be returning to his private life, he would be a more fair and responsible representative and more inclined to hold the interest of his constituents in much higher regard. In fact Thomas Jefferson made it known that he favored short congressional terms so that representatives would “return into the mass of the people and become the governed instead of the governors which might still keep alive that regard to the public good that otherwise they might perhaps be induced by their independence to forget.”

Fast forward to present day where the fools on the hill are made up of well paid, well cared for, career politicians, Once in office they are set for life. The Founding Fathers never intended that a run in Congress should be a means to wealth. They believed that career politicians would lose sight of what it means to be a regular citizen and what was truly good for the people. And by God they were right! Today, the “common good is a thing of the past as self-serving legislation has become the norm on the hill. Corruption in Congress is widespread, both Congressmen and Senators make questionable decisions in order to preserve beneficial relationships with “deep pocketed lobbyists” in order to maintain a “long list of exclusive benefits.” I tell you, the fools on the hill have lost sight of their true purpose.

The system is broken my friends and is in desperate need of fixing. One would think that common sense would prevail on the hill but that ain’t going to happen anytime soon. Obviously those legislators who benefit from the current way of doing things see no need in fixing things. Now with the government shut down perhaps it’s time to revisit term limits and the ideals set forth by our Founding Fathers.We have the power to restore order on the hill. We are the voice of government. Our power is our right to vote. We must demand that our legislators get their act together and provide for the common good, if not we need to vote their asses out of there. Too many of our representatives have been reaping the rewards of office for far too long. Self serving, corrupt politicians have got to go! We the People demand it! This is not the government our Founding fathers intended!

One Response to "Government Shutdown! This is not what the Founding Fathers had in mind!"

Great article John. The great genius of the founding fathers knew that limited government was the only way to insure freedom for the individual. Today we now see what they feared. We need to go back to the principles that we once had. I’m afraid that to many young people today are unaware or (made unaware) of the kind of principles that made this great nation. I believe the powers that be today, don’t want free thinkers like Thomas Jefferson . I always hear the media refer to us as a democracy, as you know this is a republic. Democracy is mob rule or one of my favorite examples that I read, its like two wolfs and one lamb voting on what to eat for lunch. Long live the Republic and the Constitution that protects our God given rights. By the way 75% of the government is still open only 25% was shut down, the media always hypes things for ratings. I like how they tried to shut down the ww2 memorial (Pure politics, as if it was necessary when its out in the open on a sidewalk) and the vets tore down the tape and went in anyway, what were they (the government) thinking? These guys kicked the Nazis asses, hooray for the greatest generation.